Asylum and Its Discontents in the United States
As protests against Israel and the war in Gaza continue to spread across the U.S., some politicians are calling for non-citizen protesters to be deported. Can foreign students, asylum seekers, Green Card holders, and other non-citizens be deported for participating in protests?
As usual in immigration matters, the answer is: It depends. Here, we’ll discuss whether and under what circumstances the government can deport non-citizens for participating in demonstrations.
This post is by Mikayla Minton, a senior from Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon. Ms. Minton is originally from Humboldt County, California and is majoring in Law, Rights, and Justice and minoring in Journalism and Media Studies. During the spring 2024 semester, she interned at Dzubow & Pilcher and attended American University. Ms. Minton plans on continuing her studies and passions in law school.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled to allow a controversial immigration law to take effect in Texas. The ruling concerns Texas Senate Bill 4 (2023), known as SB4, which allows state officials to arrest and deport migrants who enter the state illegally. While the Court’s ruling involved a preliminary issue in the case, it telegraphed the Justices’ views on state–as opposed to federal–oversight of immigration.
Many conservative lawmakers in the Lone Star State and across the country see the Court’s decision as a win. Meanwhile, the Court’s liberal Justices as well as officials at the Department of Homeland Security described the possible effects of SB4 as “chaos.”
What is the significance of SB4 and of the Supreme Court’s ruling? How might it affect immigration law and states’ rights? And what impact will it have on immigrants?
To win asylum, an applicant must show that he faces persecution on account of his race, religion, nationality, political opinion or particular social group. But what do you do when you face harm not based on a characteristic that you actually have, but instead, based on a characteristic that the persecutor thinks you have? This is called an “imputed” characteristic, and it can be a powerful path to winning asylum.
Earlier this month, I participated in a panel discussion about the U.S. asylum system and my new book, The Asylumist: How to Seek Asylum in the United States and Keep Your Sanity. The event was sponsored by Ayuda, and we raised over $1000 for that worthy organization. Panelists at the event included retired Immigration Judge Lisa Dornell, Ayuda’s Legal Director, Laurie Ball Cooper, and torture survivor and advocate Tensay Kelile. The event was held at Immigrant Food, a DC restaurant that celebrates immigrants and their contributions to our country. Special thanks to Peter Schechter of Immigrant Food, who hosted and moderated the panel.
At the event, we discuss the state of asylum in the U.S., and make some suggestions for how the Biden Administration can improve the system. We also hear from Tensay Kelile about his persecution in Ethiopia and about the years-long wait he has endured as an asylum seeker.
You can watch the event below, and you can donate to Ayuda here. Also, all profits from my book through the end of this month will go to Ayuda, so now is a great time time to buy a copy or three!
Please join me for a live event and fund raiser at Immigrant Food on September 9, 2021 at 6:00 PM in Washington, DC. The event is sponsored by Ayuda, a DC-area non-profit that assists immigrants and asylum seekers. Aside from yours truly, speakers will include Immigration Judge (retired) Lisa Dornell, Ayuda Legal Director Laurie Ball Cooper, and torture survivor and advocate Tensay Kalile.
We will discuss the state of the U.S. asylum system, including the Asylum Office and the Immigration Court, and how the Biden Administration can improve the asylum process. Of course, we will also discuss my new book, The Asylumist: How to Seek Asylum in the United States and Keep Your Sanity. Given that this is a two-hour event, I am confident we will be able to solve most of the problems with the U.S. asylum system – so you won’t want to miss it!
Proceeds from food and book sales will benefit Ayuda. In additional, all royalties from the sale of my book online from today through September 15 will benefit Ayuda – so now is a great time to buy the book and benefit a very worthy organization. You can buy the book here. Below is more information about the event and the panelists (and by the way, the even will be held out doors, socially distanced). You can sign up to attend or donate here. The event will also be Live Streamed on Facebook.
According to a new report released by USCIS, asylum applicants are “highly satisfied” with the service they receive at the nation’s various Asylum Offices. Asylum seekers who appeared for interviews at the different Asylum Offices answered the written survey. A total of 933 responses were collected from September 2011 through March 2012. Surveys were collected … Read more
As millions of people around the globe were marking World Refugee Day on Sunday, UNHCR chief António Guterres called on the international community to do more for the forcibly displaced. High Commissioner made his call during a press conference in Syria – broadcast on a live video link – where he met earlier in the … Read more
A Nicaraguan national in the 1980s had a much better chance (80 percent)of being granted asylum than a Salvadoran or Guatemalan national (5 percent). Critics blamed geopolitical biases for the disparate treatment. The INS’s hostility to Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees, they argued, was attributable to the U.S. government’s coddling of right-wing regimes in those countries. Conversely, the … Read more
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University recently received a fee request from USCIS for a whopping $111,930.00 for Freedom of Information Act expenses. TRAC is a “data gathering, data research and data distribution organization” whose mission is to “provide the American people — and institutions of oversight such as Congress, news organizations, public interest … Read more